According to the Bible, Goliath was six cubits which would make him 9’ 6”.And the Bible does not exaggerate.The Tallest U.S. President was Abraham Lincoln at 6’5″.

The notoriously short Napoleon was 5’6” which was average height for his time.He was called le petit caporal which translates in English as, “the little general”, but the term was used as one of affection by his troops. English propaganda has perpetuated the Shorty Napoleon myth which still exists today

6 Responses to “Famous Tall Leaders”

I assume your assuming the standard Greco-Roman cubit when converting his height into feet and inches. There’s a slight problem, wile the Hebrews did adopt the Roman cubit after being conquered in the 3rd century BC, before that they used their own slightly smaller (16.9 in.) cubit. Which means Goliath was actually a “mere” 8′ 5″… a little taller than Andre the Giant and 6 inches shorter than the world’s tallest man (who stood 8′ 11″).

The average height of males in the Middle Ages may have been 5’2″, but neither Washington, Henry VIII, or Napoleon lived then. Also, the average man was 5’2″, but the nobility were generally as tall as modern people – the peasantry were malnourished, but the rich ate well and grew tall as a result.

Andre the giant’s height was extremely exaggerated by the wreslting business. At his peak, he reached at most 7ft 4 according to wikipedia ( 224 cm ) but as his back problems began to flourish, he shrunk several centimeters. However, Robert Wadlow was billed as the tallest man on earth and still holds this record.